Utopia of the Seas Short Cruises??

[orville99]

23 hours ago, Vera/Lee said:

I’m curious about something. How does Disney Wish stay full during the week when kids are in school? We’ve cruised a lot during the week (b2b) for a good price! The weekdays had older passengers that had retired.  

For one thing, they draw quite a bit from the South American market (Brazil is a big component) that combine a 3 or 4 night cruise with a corresponding stay at Disney World. Their summer vacation timeframes come when American schools are in session.

[Oceansaway17]

2 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Maybe, but as high $$ amount final payment dates begin to collide with the inevitable credit card defaults in the next year, my take is that the house of cards created by the addictive effects of a two year flow of free money coupled with an impending market collapse will stop the excitement in its tracks.

Oh stop listening to CNBC doom and groomers.

Hard to tell what might really happen.

At least Utopia is more reasonable than Icon.

I mean 4k for solo in Interior room.

 

[ink76]

11 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Maybe, but as high $$ amount final payment dates begin to collide with the inevitable credit card defaults in the next year, my take is that the house of cards created by the addictive effects of a two year flow of free money coupled with an impending market collapse will stop the excitement in its tracks.

Yes it look like a big bubble but as now it the party on attitude

[orville99]

41 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Oh stop listening to CNBC doom and groomers.

Hard to tell what might really happen.

At least Utopia is more reasonable than Icon.

I mean 4k for solo in Interior room.

 

A: I never listen to those hacks;

B: I have been dealing with analyzing the key economic indicators professionally for more than 50 years, and both the leading and trailing indicators point to a recession either Q4 2023 or Q1 2024 extending well into 2025.

C: Icon is not designed for solo travelers, and with credit card balances at all time record highs and interest on those cards hitting 25+% and the FED intent on continuing to raise rates, families will be struggling just to pay their bills next year, and discretionary spending will be the first to go poof.

D: Anyone who can tell you exactly what will happen in the future is almost always wrong. I'm just giving you my best educated assessment of what I'm seeing in the data.

[Oceansaway17]

2 hours ago, orville99 said:

A: I never listen to those hacks;

B: I have been dealing with analyzing the key economic indicators professionally for more than 50 years, and both the leading and trailing indicators point to a recession either Q4 2023 or Q1 2024 extending well into 2025.

C: Icon is not designed for solo travelers, and with credit card balances at all time record highs and interest on those cards hitting 25+% and the FED intent on continuing to raise rates, families will be struggling just to pay their bills next year, and discretionary spending will be the first to go poof.

D: Anyone who can tell you exactly what will happen in the future is almost always wrong. I'm just giving you my best educated assessment of what I'm seeing in the data.

Solo can stay in interiors but usually not 4k.

but those family suites are very expensive too.

I got a good price back in October and will enjoy aqua show and ice show each in newer venues.

I think Utopia will out sell Icon within the year.

[notscb]

On 6/24/2023 at 9:38 PM, lcpagejr said:

you won't be able to enjoy the ship nor experience all its amenities and areas.

That's the point. Get folks super hyped up and interested in coming back because they feel like they missed something onboard.

[Florida Fan]

Another reason for a short cruise: maybe you can get your trusty dogsitter for that long. We're retired and have plenty of time, but our dogs are old. If our dogsitter can come for only 3 or 4 days, then that's what we book. If you have dogs, you understand. 😊

 

[molly361]

26 minutes ago, Florida Fan said:

Another reason for a short cruise: maybe you can get your trusty dogsitter for that long. We're retired and have plenty of time, but our dogs are old. If our dogsitter can come for only 3 or 4 days, then that's what we book. If you have dogs, you understand. 😊

 

I get it. I take my dog now to a lady who watches dogs in her house but I don't like leaving her for more than a few days 

[twangster]

RCG must see tremendous upside to short Florida market since Celebrity is re-deploying Reflection to the 3 & 4 short Florida market.  

[firefly333]

14 minutes ago, twangster said:

RCG must see tremendous upside to short Florida market since Celebrity is re-deploying Reflection to the 3 & 4 short Florida market.  

Maybe with prices so high they figure getting out of reach so offering more of the 3/4 just for those who say 7 day wonder too high, no way .. but a 3 or 4 day affordable for more families. 

 

I'd say higher prices. Shrinkflation. Where you get less potato chips in the bag at the same price. 

[Vera/Lee]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

RCG must see tremendous upside to short Florida market since Celebrity is re-deploying Reflection to the 3 & 4 short Florida market.  

That’s interesting!

[DrProfessor]

On 6/26/2023 at 2:16 PM, orville99 said:

Maybe, but as high $$ amount final payment dates begin to collide with the inevitable credit card defaults in the next year, my take is that the house of cards created by the addictive effects of a two year flow of free money coupled with an impending market collapse will stop the excitement in its tracks.

 

This concept is tough, even though I know there is certainly truth in there.  We never charge anything on cards that we cannot pay off in the same month and neither do our adult kids - because we constantly preached to them about the crazy high rates of credit cards and believe it or not, they heed that advice religiously.  They are a great tool to use and help build credit, but we never run a balance on them past the month.  Are people really charging vacations without having the money to pay for them?   Nevermind... I know the answer to that.

 

Anyway, back to fun talk about Utopia.  Unfortunately, we stay away from the newest ships because of the premium price.  We haven't been on Wonder yet because the price is still so high (to us) all the way out to 2025.  We'll go eventually, but we have already been on Oasis, Allure and Harmony so I don't think we are missing too much.  We'll see about Icon when the 2026 or 2027 seasons roll around.  In fact, I'm hoping that the Icon is such a huge success, that the newer (which will then be older) ship prices start to come down a little.

Edited June 27, 2023 by RCFirstTimer

[OCSC Mike]

2 hours ago, twangster said:

RCG must see tremendous upside to short Florida market since Celebrity is re-deploying Reflection to the 3 & 4 short Florida market.  

 

Sending it to CocoCay also had to play a role.

[orville99]

2 minutes ago, RCFirstTimer said:

This concept is tough, even though I know there is certainly truth in there.  We never charge anything on cards that we cannot pay off in the same month and neither do our adult kids - because we constantly preached to them about the crazy high rates of credit cards and believe it or not, they heed that advice religiously

DW and I have not paid a penny in credit card interest in more than 30 years either. Unfortunately you, your children and the two of us are a significantly small minority. The latest credit card balance data for Q1 2023 stands at $986 billion (an all time record high) and the average APR on that debt is 20.8% and rising. There are a lot of people out there who are going to hit that debt brick wall hard, and high ticket discretionary spending choices like cruises will be the first to crash.

[OCSC Mike]

6 minutes ago, RCFirstTimer said:

We'll go eventually, but we have already been on Oasis, Allure and Harmony so I don't think we are missing too much.

 

I loved Wonder earlier this month and it is now my favorite Oasis class ship (been on them all except Symphony). That said, other than the new suite neighborhood layout (which obviously only applies if book suites) and Mason Jar (which we loved for brunch but that doesn't mean you would), no, you're not missing so much that it's worth paying a significant premium over the others if that's what you are finding price-wise, IMO.

 

I will continue to sail her b/c PC is an hour drive for us and the convenience is worth a lot to me compared to having to drive to South Florida but that's a combo of happening to live outside Orlando and my personal valuation of the much shorter drive.

[OCSC Mike]

7 minutes ago, orville99 said:

DW and I have not paid a penny in credit card interest in more than 30 years either. Unfortunately you, your children and the two of us are a significantly small minority.

 

Yay for the no CC balance ever club! 🎉

[DrProfessor]

3 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

I will continue to sail her b/c PC is an hour drive for us and the convenience is worth a lot to me compared to having to drive to South Florida but that's a combo of happening to live outside Orlando and my personal valuation of the much shorter drive.

 

We live in Brunswick, GA (about an hour directly North of Jacksonville), so PC is about a 3 to 3.5 hour drive for us which is very doable.  After having tried Tampa once, we did not know how good PC was.  I know some who don't like PC, but terminal 1 really is nicely laid out.  Short of some superb itinerary or a ship we must go on, we stick to PC because it is so convenient.  I believe they are building another terminal, but I don't know what size.  I am thankful that Royal still has ships like Mariner and Independence sailing there, but with 2 Oasis class ships, parking is going to get tighter for sure.  We may have to go back to the park and cruise packages at hotels if it gets too bad, but we love getting off the ship and getting in the car immediately.

[OCSC Mike]

4 minutes ago, RCFirstTimer said:

I am thankful that Royal still has ships like Mariner and Independence sailing there, but with 2 Oasis class ships, parking is going to get tighter for sure.

 

They will supposedly have more parking in place by the time Allure joins Wonder (and then, of course, Utopia) but I'm not sure of the specifics.

[firefly333]

33 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

.. no, you're not missing so much that it's worth paying a significant premium over the others if that's what you are finding price-wise, IMO.

 

Idk if it's because people booked wonder when it first came out because I'm seeing utopia cheaper. Wonder booked in march and utopia just booked of course.

 

Wonder isnt quite double but my math says almost $300 a day and utopia about $225 a day, significantly less for a neighborhood balcony. Got central park on wonder and boardwalk on utopia. No way I can see that utopia costs more. Booked sorta s2s same time frame, feb 2 and feb 10. 2025.

 

Confused why people just keep posting utopia is more... not my s2s. Not sure if mine arent typical but utopia for sure better price. Just a regular cheapo balcony, not a suite. I keep doing the math again when I keep reading the assumption again ...I saw another post someone saved $800 b2b on utopia vs a week on wonder. And some others too who saved money doing 7 days b2b on utopia. Only one above who said utopia cost more 7 days in a suite. Everyone else says less. 

[orville99]

51 minutes ago, RCFirstTimer said:

I am thankful that Royal still has ships like Mariner and Independence sailing there, but with 2 Oasis class ships, parking is going to get tighter for sure. 

With Mariner docking at T5, parking on that side of the port is not bad at all (especially now that they have changed to a "pay as you enter" model for the garage). T1 where Wonder and Independence dock is quite packed most days and if you don't get there early, you probably will find yourself parking in one of the overflow surface lots.

[OCSC Mike]

14 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Confused why people just keep posting utopia is more

 

I think it's possibly b/c Utopia has a bigger discount during off-season than Wonder (like your February example)? Wonder's prices don't vary a ton once you get out of Summer 2024.

 

I didn't have my TA price Wonder for my wife's March 2025 spring break but Wonder would most definitely be cheaper. The Utopia B2B I have on hold with a group rate and OBC still isn't a great price but it's not terrible.

 

I know Utopia would be cheaper during slower times if we were able to sail off-season.

[OCSC Mike]

1 minute ago, orville99 said:

T1 where Wonder and Independence dock is quite packed most days and if you don't get there early, you probably will find yourself parking in one of the overflow surface lots.

 

Good thing we get there early. Tons of parking around 9:45-10am.

[Mikamarii]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Idk if it's because people booked wonder when it first came out because I'm seeing utopia cheaper. Wonder booked in march and utopia just booked of course.

 

Wonder isnt quite double but my math says almost $300 a day and utopia about $225 a day, significantly less for a neighborhood balcony. Got central park on wonder and boardwalk on utopia. No way I can see that utopia costs more. Booked sorta s2s same time frame, feb 2 and feb 10. 2025.

 

Confused why people just keep posting utopia is more... not my s2s. Not sure if mine arent typical but utopia for sure better price. Just a regular cheapo balcony, not a suite. I keep doing the math again when I keep reading the assumption again ...I saw another post someone saved $800 b2b on utopia vs a week on wonder. And some others too who saved money doing 7 days b2b on utopia. Only one above who said utopia cost more 7 days in a suite. Everyone else says less. 

Out of curiosity I checked wonder for 7 nights compared to our 4 and 3 night cruises on Utopia for same time frame. 

 

We booked an Ultra spacious OV for the 4 of us. Our utopia cruises are 800$ cheaper than a 7 night on wonder for same category and same time frame. Our Utopia cruises are also refundable deposit. I didn't go that far with the Wonder booking so add maybe another $400-500. So looking at a difference of about $1200 (Cdn)

 

So what you are seeing applies to us as well. 

 

Edited to add that our 11 nights averages to $231(cdn) /person/night

Edited June 27, 2023 by Mikamarii
Update info

[orville99]

28 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

Good thing we get there early. Tons of parking around 9:45-10am.

On our B2B on Wonder in April, the lot was already filled up by the time we got back to our cabin on TAD around 11:00, and people being redirected to the surface lot across from the garage entrance. By the time we sailed, they were parking cars in the lumber yard next door.

[soremekun]

5 hours ago, Florida Fan said:

Another reason for a short cruise: maybe you can get your trusty dogsitter for that long. We're retired and have plenty of time, but our dogs are old. If our dogsitter can come for only 3 or 4 days, then that's what we book. If you have dogs, you understand. 😊

 

 

5 hours ago, molly361 said:

I get it. I take my dog now to a lady who watches dogs in her house but I don't like leaving her for more than a few days 

 

Aren't their still methods available to bring a pet dog onboard? /s